New toys arrived!!

[rossdv8]

I would love to find out a little more about the smaller one. I have an 'INSTA' press. It is 20 years old, and weighs a ton. apart from an old fashioned thermostat and a timer like an over timer (complete with bell) the only difference I can see is the knob on the swing handle.

[pisquee]

Instas are made in California - https://www.instagraph.com/
In UK, I have seen them rebranded as MetroSport, as well as MagicTouch and Xpress
They have a similar design chassis wise to Adkins in the UK, but not identical - I have no idea who copied who though.
Insta are good with tech support - I phoned them, and they were able to talk me through some electrical diagnostics and repairs of one machine we had in. They also have exploded diagrams, showing all the parts, and how they fit together for download.

I've not as yet, opened up an Insta and Xpress side by side to compare them.

[rossdv8]

Thanks for that link. The thing is almost unbreakable. But it would be good to know i can get bits. Like the thermometer on the front. I know the thermostat light goes on and off, but it is a nice touch to have an actual thermometer built in.

[pisquee]

I love that the old Instas have normal thermometers on the front, and clockwork timers - less to go wrong!
Yea, spares are available form them -just need to give them a call/email - I need to get a new heat probe from them

[rossdv8]

Yes, the clockwork timer is the other thing that is broken. Mind you it took over 20 years of producing a hell of a lot of tees. I thnk it had the ceramic fuse replaced about once every 7 years. The timer will work for 20 seconds, but 40, it stops after 35. I have replaced it with a digital one, but I would like to replace the original if I can. The thermometer though, I would like to fix that, and also install one on my cheap chinese clamshell. The INSTA is nicely greased and is a single finger to swing away and back. Glides.

I replaced the bottom part with a teflon covered pad and did the same on the clamshell. Has some disadvantages because now shirts slip on it, but has advantage too, because now shirts slip on it.

I have a frame sized for each press that positions the shirt exactly on the pad. All that is needed is to position the shirt exactly in the frame first.